Portable writing board



' Aug. 9, 1949.

J. M. THOMPSON, SR 2,478,849

PORTABLE WRITING BOARD Filed Jan. 3, 1947 /z' /0 iii? 'mmnum h. I 55] m5 a 1 .6- 80min fi ENTOR.

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' to a position in close engagement Patented Aug. 9, 1949 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE PORTABLE WRITING BOARD John M. Thompson, Sr., Axtell,Kans. Application January 3, 1947, Serial No. 720,003

1 Claim. 1

Ihis invention relates to writing boards, the primary object of theinvention being to provide a writing board having means whereby theboard may be conveniently held on the leg of the person using thewriting board.

An important object of the invention is to provide means whereby theinclination or angle of the writing board may be varied for theconvenience of the user.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully describedand pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may bemade in the construction and arrangements of parts without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawing Figure 1 is an elevational view of a writingboard constructed in acordance with the invention, and illustrating theprop of the writing board as extended for use.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the writing board.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the writing board is indicatedgenerally by the reference character 5.

Connected to the underside of the board 5, at a point intermediate theends thereof, is an ad- Justable prop or rest 6. This prop is of a widthslightly less than the width of the writing board proper, and isprovided with a curved cut-away portion 1, designed to fit over the kneeof the person using the board.

The hinges which connect the prop to the board, are indicated by thereference character 8, and :as shown a rod 9 connects the hinges. Aspring member ID is coiled around the rod 9 and secured thereto, one ofthe ends of the spring member ID extending laterally, where it contactsthe prop 6, the opposite end l2 of the spring engaging the underside ofthe writing board proper. Thus, it will be seen that when the prop ismoved to its supporting position as shown by Figure 1 of the drawing,the spring will be placed under tension, so that when the board islifted from the leg of the person using the writing board and the chainM to be hereinafter more clearly described, is disconnected from theprop 6, the action of the spring member ID will be to move the prop orrest with the bottom of the writing board.

Secured to the prop or rest 6, is a plate 13, which is formed with a.key-hole slot for the reception of links of the chain I l. The chain Hihas one of its ends secured to the writing board near one end of thewriting board, so that the chain may be extended and moved into thekey-hole opening of the plate [3. By moving the prop or rest 6 tovarious angular positions with respect to the board, and securing theprop in its adjusted position by connectin the chain thereto, the angleat which the board may be supported may be varied, to meet therequirements of the user.

A clamp such as indicated at I5 is positioned over one edge of thewriting board, so that papers may be clamped thereto.

From the foregoing it will be seen that due to the construction shownand described, I have provided a writing board for lap use, which may bereadily and conveniently moved from a folded condition, to an extendedposition for use.

What is claimed is:

A portable writing board comprising a body portion, a wide prop hingedlyconnected to the body portion, said prop having a curved lower edgeadapted to fit over the leg of the user of the board, means forconnecting the prop to the body portion, said means including hingemembers connected to the writing board and prop, and a rod connectingthe hinge members, a coiled spring coiled around the rod, one end of thespring being connected to the prop, the other end of the spring beingconnected to the body portion whereby said prop is urged towards thebody portion, a plate having a key-hole opening, secured to the prop,and a chain having one of its ends connected with the body portion atits end opposite to that toward which the prop is urged, and the linksof said chain adapted to be positioned in said key-hole opening,securing the prop in its positions of adjustment.

JOHN M. THOMPSON. Sn.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 578,325 Fleming Mar. 9, 18971,116,016 Cochran Nov. 3, 1914 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date210,665 Great Britain Feb. "I, 1924

